Britain's firefighters are to be offered a new and significant pay offer in a bid to settle a long-running pay dispute, a spokeswoman for the local government authority employers said.
But the offer, to be made at talks tomorrow, is linked to modernisation of the fire service, a proposal which the firefighters have previously been vehemently opposed to.
They have staged five strikes since the start of the dispute, forcing the armed forces to provide emergency cover with out-dated "Green Goddess" engines. Army personnel manned "Yellow Goddesses" in Northern Ireland.
Firefighters are now reportedly prepared to discuss the changes, first proposed in the controversial Bain report last year, which include dropping their opposition to overtime and agreeing to changes in shift patterns.
"We agreed to put an offer to the union tomorrow. We won't be saying what the offer is as it is only proper that the details are given first to the union but it is a comprehensive and significant offer linked to modernisation," an employers' spokeswoman said.
"We hope that the offer will result in bringing about a solution to the dispute."
The new pay offer will be considered on Friday by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU).
The firefighters had demanded a 40 per cent pay rise but later indicated they would settle for 16 per cent.